'Where is Walz?!' Minnesota delegates won't leave convention floor

CHICAGO — When U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) slammed his gavel and concluded the Democratic National Convention's Thursday session around 10:45 p.m. CT, he told delegates that he doesn't care where they go, but they "can't stay here."

The Minnesota Delegation wasn't having it.

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More than a half hour after the session ended, and the United Center floor otherwise empty, several dozen Minnesotans — and other delegate hangers-on — continued to hoot, holler and demand the Democrats' newly minted vice presidential nominee make a curtain call.

Walz, the state's governor and a former football coach, would have loved the pep rally-style show of defiance on a night he accepted his party's nomination with a speech that featured his tearful family and former high school student athletes.

Members of the Minnesota delegation to the Democratic National Convention stayed long after the Thursday session had ended in Chicago's United Center — in a bid to party with their state's governor, Tim Walz, the newly minted vice presidential candidate. (Dave Levinthal / Raw Story)

But Walz was nowhere to be found after hours.

"Where is Walz? Where is Walz?" the delegates continued to chant, along with "We want Tim!" "Minn-uh-so-tuh" and call-and-response shouts of "Tim!" and "Walz!"

Some waved oversized cardboard cutouts of Walz's head as convention and arena officials gently urged them to curb their enthusiasm and wind it down.

By 11:20 p.m. CT, the delegates finally got the hint and began to file out.

But they had plenty of time left to celebrate, albeit elsewhere, as standard closing time in Chicago isn't until 2 a.m. — although a few watering holes are allowed to stay open later.